FLAHERTY LIFTS MONTRÉAL TO 2-1 OT WIN, 2-0 SERIES LEAD OVER OTTAWA | PWHL
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LAVAL, QC (May 16, 2026) – Maggie Flaherty scored the extra time winner to steer the Montréal Victoire to a 2-1 victory and a 2-0 sequence lead over the Ottawa Charge within the PWHL Walter Cup Finals at Place Bell on Saturday afternoon in entrance of 9,232 followers. The defender took a move from captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who carried the puck into the nook and drew three Ottawa skaters earlier than discovering Flaherty alone within the slot, the place she one-timed the puck high shelf to ship the house crowd right into a frenzy. Ottawa opened the scoring for the second straight recreation, as rookie Sarah Wozniewicz discovered a free puck in visitors on the aspect of the crease for her second aim of the postseason, giving the Charge a 1-0 lead at 8:38 of the opening body. The Charge have now scored the sport’s first aim in all six playoff contests this postseason. Montréal utilized strain all through the interval, however Gwyneth Philips turned apart each alternative — together with a short-handed breakaway from Laura Stacey — as Ottawa outshot the Victoire 10-5 within the body. Kati Tabin tied the sport simply 32 seconds into the second interval after successful possession off an offensive-zone draw earlier than strolling in from the hash marks and roofing a backhand shot previous Philips. Stacey almost gave the Victoire the lead halfway via the second interval along with her second breakaway of the afternoon however ranged her shot off the publish.
With the groups nonetheless deadlocked 1-1 after regulation, the competition marked the second straight extra time recreation of the sequence and the sixth consecutive Walter Cup Finals recreation to increase past regulation earlier than Flaherty ended it 3:23 into extra time. Ann-Renée Desbiens made 20 saves within the victory, together with a key pad cease on Alexa Vasko from the highest of the crease simply seconds earlier than Montréal transitioned up ice for the game-winning aim. Philips turned apart 27 pictures within the loss, together with six in extra time
Montréal may have the possibility to win its first ever Walter Cup on Monday, as Game 3 of the best-of-five sequence heads to Ottawa the place the 2 groups will face off at Canadian Tire Center at 6 pm ET.
QUOTES
Victoire Captain Marie-Philip Poulin on the assist the workforce has been getting from the whole metropolis and even the entire province: “We feel so fortunate to have the support of the fans. We’ve seen it all week — the initiatives, the people who have come to the arena. The Roch Voisines, the Mitsous, Patrice Bélanger’s crew. So many people have come together. We feel it. When we talk about the seventh player, it’s there — we can feel it — and we’re truly grateful.”
Montreal Head Coach Kori Cheverie on the total recreation the workforce performed: “I did really like our game from start to finish. There were a couple of ups and downs, but in the second, we didn’t give up much. In the third, I think you know, they had one kind of dangerous chance, and just really happy we’ve been a team all year that has defended by committee and as a collective, they did the job at both ends of the rink today.”
Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner on how it may be to play at residence for Game 3: “It’s exciting. I think it’s going to be great to get back home and get in front of our fans. It was amazing last series and we’re just looking forward to their energy helping us.”
Charge Head Coach Carla MacLeod on the sport and being down 2-0 within the sequence: “It was a really great game. We asked our players to work on some of the defensive components of our game and thought that what we did between game one and game two was impactful. I think we worked incredibly hard to achieve that. The chances are there — we’re playing good hockey. Again, this is what it comes down to. It’s always so close, but there is a lot in our game that’s going well. We’ll have to dig ourselves out of the “hole, but it’s the best to five.”
NOTABLES
Since the beginning of 2025, all six Walter Cup Finals games have gone to overtime, with seven of the 11 games in Finals history extending beyond regulation. For comparison, Stanley Cup Final history has featured just one streak of at least five consecutive overtime games — a six-game stretch spanning 1950 and 1951.
The game marked the 12th overtime contest for both Montréal and Ottawa across the regular season and playoffs. The only team in PWHL history to play more overtime games in a single season, including postseason, was Minnesota with 14 in 2024-25. The Victoire are now 4-4 and the Charge are 2-6 all-time in overtime games in the playoffs.
Today marked the 13th one-goal playoff game in team history for both Ottawa and Montréal, tying Minnesota for the most one-goal playoff games all-time in PWHL history.
This marks just the third series in PWHL history in which a team has taken a 2-0 lead. The previous two instances saw Boston sweep Montréal in three overtime games in 2024, while Minnesota overcame Toronto in five games after falling behind 0-2 in 2024.
The winner of Game 2 has gone on to win the series six of eight times in PWHL playoff history.
All four Game 2s played at Place Bell in PWHL history have gone beyond regulation, totaling an additional 185:31 (3h 5m 31s) of hockey. Overall, seven of Montréal’s nine home playoff games have required overtime, while the other two were decided by one goal in regulation, extending the Victoire’s streak to nine straight one-goal home playoff games.
Montréal improved to 1-4-3-1 in home postseason contests, while Ottawa fell to 2-0-5-1 in playoff road games in team history.
The Charge tied the longest streak in PWHL history by scoring the game’s first goal for the sixth straight playoff game, matching Minnesota’s six-game run from May 13-24, 2024. Ottawa also extended its own record as the only team in league history to open the scoring in each of its first six games of a single postseason.
Montréal’s opening goal marked the first 4-on-4 goal in PWHL playoff history. It was also the first 4-on-4 goal scored by the Victoire in any PWHL game, including regular season and playoffs.
Today was the first playoff game in PWHL history to have multiple unassisted goals.
Ottawa’s 16 shots on goal were their fewest in regulation during the 2026 playoffs and the fewest Montréal has allowed in regulation in any game this season. The total is the third-fewest shots on goal in regulation in a playoff game in PWHL history, behind Ottawa’s 15-shot performance in a triple-overtime loss to Minnesota on May 24, 2025 and Toronto’s 11 shots in regulation of a double-overtime loss to Minnesota on May 15, 2024.
Montréal’s plus-six shots-on-goal differential in the first period marked the Victoire’s largest advantage in any regulation period this postseason.
Maggie Flaherty recorded the fifth game-winning goal of her career and the second of her postseason career, giving her the most game-winning goals by a defender in PWHL history across regular-season and playoff play. Two of Flaherty’s three career playoff goals have stood as game winners, and this marks the first postseason in which she has scored multiple goals after recording one in both 2024 and 2025 with Minnesota.
Kati Tabin He scored his first career playoff goal in his 14th postseason appearance. It was also her second career goal against Ottawa, following her game-winner against the Charge on Jan. 19, 2025 in Québec City. The Victoire defender has scored in seven different games in his career, and five of those games have required overtime, including today.
Sarah Wozniewicz scored a goal and has now recorded at least one point in three straight games, marking the longest point streak of his PWHL career across regular-season and playoff play. The rookie is now tied with Montréal’s Nicole Gosling for the most points by a rookie in the 2026 postseason. Wozniewicz had three shots on goal in the game after never having more than one SOG in a PWHL playoff game prior to today.
Marie-Philip Poulin recorded her fifth assist of the postseason on the game-winning goal, tied for the third-most assists in a single playoff year in PWHL history behind Taylor Heise and Claire Thompson, who each had six in 2025 with the Frost. The Victoire captain now leads all playoff scorers with seven points, all recorded at Place Bell, one shy of the single-postseason record shared by Heise and Michela Cava (eight in 2024) and Lee Stecklein (eight in 2025).
Abby Roque recorded an assist for her second straight game with a point. The forward also extended his point streak against Ottawa to nine games, dating back to Jan. 27, 2025 while with New York. Roque is now tied with Laura Stacey for second in playoff scoring with six points (2G, 4A).
Ann-Renee Desbiens lowered her league-leading playoff goals-against average to 1.49 and pulled into a tie with Gwyneth Phillips for the postseason lead in save percentage at .939. After allowing five goals in Game 1 of the Victoire’s semifinal series against Minnesota to open the 2026 playoffs, Desbiens has surrendered two or fewer goals in all six games since, including four games allowing one goal or fewer.
Today’s game marked the 11th of Philips’14 career playoff appearances in which she has allowed two or fewer goals against. The Ottawa netminder extended her PWHL record for career playoff saves and now sits at 442 for her postseason career.
Stacey led the Victoire with five shots on goal to increase her playoff-leading total to 25, surpassing Boston’s Alina Müller, who entered the day with 22. The outing marked Stacey’s 10th career playoff game with four or more shots on goal, the most in PWHL postseason history. Stacey also passed Grace Zumwinkle for the most career shots on goal in PWHL playoff history with 70, and owns the league record for most regular-season games with four or more shots, with 45.
Ronja Savolainen‘s six shots on goal led all skaters today and are tied for the second-most in a playoff game in Charge history, trailing only Tereza Vanišová’s nine-shot performance at Montréal on May 11, 2025.
Poulin and Gabbie Hughes led their respective teams with 33 faceoffs apiece, both season highs, with the Victoire captain winning 21 to the Charge forward’s 19.
Today was Digging‘s 24th PWHL playoff game, breaking a tie with five of her former Minnesota teammates for the most career playoff games in PWHL history.
Rebecca Leslie skated in his 100th career PWHL game today between regular season and playoffs, becoming the tenth player in league history to reach the century mark.
THREE STARS
1. Maggie Flaherty (MTL) GWG
2. Kati Tabin (MTL) 1G
3. Sarah Wozniewicz (OTT) 1G
NEXT GAME
Game 3: Monday, May 18 at Ottawa at 6 pm ET
